New Razer Blade Pro: All The Desktop Power In A Compact Laptop

Imagine this. All the power of a high-end gaming desktop that fits into your messenger bag or backpack.

Well, now you no longer have to imagine: Prominent gaming accessory and computer maker, Razer Inc., has announced their brand new gaming laptop, the Razer Blade Pro, which is equipped with the next-generation NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 graphics card, “the world’s first ultra-low-profile mechanical keyboard,” according to Razer, and a 17-inch 4k touch display.

Some Notable Specs

For starters, the display. Sporting a 17.3-inch indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO) UHD G-Synch display with a ratio of 16:9 (3840×2160), LED backlighting, and capacitive touch capabilities, this display is incredibly powerful. In other words, all of those fancy acronyms and numbers simply means this display is one of the best—if not the best—out there for gaming, as a lot of the hardware found in the display is designed almost specifically for gaming.

Next is NVIDIA’s new GeForce GTX 1080 graphics card. This graphics card, according to the official website, is said to provide up to three times the performance than last generation’s graphics card, the GTX 980. It’s supposed to deliver greater power efficiency, gaming experience, and performance, and uses NVIDIA’s new Pascal architecture, the successor to the Maxwell architecture and intended to provide better processing power. To put it simply, when talking about graphics cards, this is supposed to be the best of the best. Many laptops use integrated graphics cards, which are cards that are merged with the computer’s CPU. While easier to manufacture and space-saving in terms of constructing a smaller chassis, performance suffers. If you want better visual performance, you always want a dedicated or separate graphics card, and it seems Razer wants to give you the best graphics possible.

And lastly is the Intel Core i7-6700HQ Quad-Core Processor that has a base clock speed of 2.6GHz but overclocks to 3.5GHz if necessary. Using hyper-threading, Intel’s proprietary technology that allows for multi-simultaneous computation, this processor will render images quicker and stabilize faster, while delivering smoother, more consistent framerates and a better gameplay experience. And because it can—and most likely will—overclock, power will almost always never be an issue.

Flirting With Power

Computer manufacturers have been flirting with the idea of a powerful, capable gaming laptop for a few years now. While Razer isn’t the first to play around with the idea, they are the most notable. Legendary manufacturers such as HP and Dell have presented their own offerings to little success. The hardest part about creating a gaming laptop, it seems, is not so much the design—though the design is absolutely important as it determines how and where the tech will fit inside the chassis—but the real issue is with the components.

There is a certain kind of hubris involved in laptop design. Many computer makers want to either develop their own components in-house or outsource them to manufacturers that have no experience with gaming. In a post published by PCMag, writers Joel Domingo and Matthew Murray list out ten of the “Best Gaming Laptops of 2016.” Unsurprisingly, Razer’s late-2016 Razer Blade Stealth tops the list, and both writers name that laptop the best gaming laptop. Well, it seems there may be a new champion when they rewrite the list.

The new Razer Blade Pro is scheduled to start shipping this November for $3,699, €4,199, or £3,499. This makes the Razer Blade Pro a bit out of reach for the casual gamer, but you got to pay a pretty penny if you want the best.